OPPOSITION TRASHES GOVT BUDGET, QUESTIONS ‘GLARING DISCREPANCIES’ - FINANCIAL-24
Shadow Finance and Planning Minister Halima Mdee addresses a news conference in Dodoma yesterday. Ms Mdee has been banned from attending parliamentary sittings for almost a year, and the Opposition’s alternative budget will be presented in Parliament today by her deputy, Mr David Silinde.
In Summary
The Shadow Finance and Planning Minister, Ms Halima Mdee, told journalists yesterday that the total budget as presented by Dr Mpango has discrepancies in figures in three different documents.
Dodoma.The opposition camp in Parliament has punched holes in the government’s 2017/18 Budget that was tabled on Thursday by Finance minister Philip Mpango, saying it contained serious, unexplained discrepancies and that it was crafted on the basis of an ambitious but unrealistic revenue assumptions.
The Shadow Finance and Planning Minister, Ms Halima Mdee, told journalists yesterday that the total budget as presented by Dr Mpango has discrepancies in figures in three different documents.
Dr Mpango told the august House on Thursday last week that the government will collect and spend a total of Sh31.7 trillion during the FY 2017/18.
However, noted Ms Mdee, the Sh31.7 trillion appears only in the budget speech.
“The Revenue Book says a total of Sh23.9 trillion will be collected. The Expenditure Book says a total of Sh26.9 trillion will be spent. The minister’s budget speech says the revenue and expenditure in the 2017/18 budget will be Sh31.7 trillion.
These remarkable discrepancies deserve an explanation,” said Ms Mdee who, however, remains banned from taking part in parliamentary sessions until February 2018.
Flanked by Deputy Shadow Finance and Planning Minister, Mr David Silinde, the chairperson for the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Ms Nagenjwa Kaboyoka and Mr David Kafulila who is special advisor to the Chadema national chairman on economic issues and other opposition MPs, Ms Mdee said the opposition camp will today table a Sh29.9 trillion budget in Parliament.
The priority areas of the shadow budget will be education, industry, energy and agriculture.
The four priority areas will jointly consume 60 per cent of the development budget while the remaining 40 per cent will be distributed across several other areas of importance to the nation.
Ms Mdee said the presented budget seems to be bent on killing the Decentralisation by Devolution (D by D) plan which seeks devolve powers from the central to the local government authorities.
“D by D started out of the admission that the central government had failed to do everything. Unfortunately, the central government is now grabbing the powers of collecting property tax and city service levy away from local government authorities,” said Ms Mdee.
She also faulted the government’s decision to scrap the annual motor vehicle licence fee and instead swap it with the introduction of a new Sh40 levy on a litre of fuel.
“Why should a rural dweller—who uses kerosene—be compelled to pay Sh40 in every litre as road levy?” she enquired, further alleging that MPs applauded the move since they are the ones who stand to benefit from it.
The Opposition—which is expected to officially present its alternative budget in the House today—believes property tax should have been limited to valued houses only contrary to the presented budget that requires even those owning unvalued houses to pay their dues to the taxman.
To finance the Sh29.9 trillion budget, the Opposition would collect a total of Sh3.7 trillion in addition to the government’s current revenue sources.
It would float a Eurobond and collect a total of Sh2.2 trillion. “The government has failed to issue the Eurobond due to failure to reach consensus with international credit rating agencies.
The Opposition would swiftly allow the process to move on and float a Eurobond,” she said.
A total of Sh492 billion would be collected through fishing in the Indian Ocean while licences for gemstone mining would bring in Sh5.59 billion. The minerals would also bring in Sh270 billion through various taxes and royalties.
Source: The Citizen
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